London, UK – Buoyed by surging volumes in emerging markets, particularly of bottled water, soft drinks have gained global “share of throat” steadily from 2009-14, according to a Euromonitor International report.

During the recent Sweets & Snacks Expo, the National Confectioners Association awarded 45 Most Innovative New Product Award nominations on companies showcasing imaginative ideas, concepts and products in confectionery and snacks.

July 6, 2015, Saskatoon, Sask. – In recent years, universities, colleges and school boards across the country have outlawed selling bottled water on school property. Yet, to the aggravation of environmentalists, bottled water is not just surviving, but thriving. Maclean's reports. | READ MORE

June 9, 2015, Purchase, NY – PepsiCo plans to introduce a line of fountain craft sodas, called "Stubborn Soda," The new sodas will be made with natural flavours and will not contain high-fructose corn syrup, according to Beverage-Digest. Business Insider reports. | READ MORE

A PET bottle-collecting machine that pays users through their smart phones? An app that you can use to order pickup of recyclable items from your home? One Beijing company is trying to bring recycling into the “smart” era – and make money at it. Plastic News reports. | READ MORE

May 8, 2015 – The Stewart family is synonymous with Savco Food Services Ltd., a small company that, over 53 years, has built an enviable reputation for high-quality service you’d expect from a small-town business.

February 3, 2012, Halifax – When she drafted her first business plan for a healthy vending company, April Glavine was a Saint Mary’s University business student with a passion for eating well. Fast-forward a dozen years and today that ambitious business student is an award-winning entrepreneur with hundreds of branded vending machines operating across Canada.

The Canadian banking industry has published a white paper highlighting the need to maintain the highest level of payment security, promote competition and support innovation for the benefit of Canadian consumers and retailers.

Manulife Bank of Canada has announced it will expand its current fleet of bank machines by 830, installing the new ABMs in Mac's, Couche-Tard and Circle K convenience stores by the end of September. CBC News reports. | READ MORE

June 25, 2015, Los Angeles – AVT, Inc. has introduced a Multi-Shopper Smart Vending System with an eight-inch touchscreen interface that displays nutritional and product information and is FDA-compliant for the sale of perishable items.

June 24, 2015, Ottawa – A long-anticipated report published by the Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce has called for a "regulatory light touch" on bitcoin and digital currencies, CoinDesk reports. | READ MORE

June 23, 2015, Toronto – Bell, Rogers, Telus, Koodo and Virgin are backing suretap, an open mobile wallet that was started by Rogers Communications Inc. and spun off into a separate entity, Suretap Wallet LP, late last year. The Globe and Mail reports. | READ MORE

To understand how Bitcoins can be a viable currency, you must start by
accepting two facts pertaining to money. First, money has value because
we say so, and second, we physically touch only a very small percentage
of our wealth . . . it’s mostly virtual.

July 24, 2015, Toronto – Canadian consumer spending rose just over six per cent in the second quarter of 2015 on a year-over-year basis, and restaurant and home improvement spending made impressive gains, according to a report from Moneris.

June 29, 2015 – Whether the challenges arise from understanding consumer behaviour, developing new flavours, tastes and delivery models, or integrating today’s trends around organic and responsible food production, food and beverage organizations have their work cut out for them, according to consulting firm Kalypso.

June 16, 2015, Des Moines, IA – Des Moines stands to be the first city in the United States to have a vending-machine-style, robotic grocery store as part of an experiment to bring healthy food and necessities to a neighbourhood that doesn't have enough. The Des Moines Register reports. | READ MORE

June 10, 2015, Seattle, WA – While consumers are
more conscious of their waistlines, especially regarding calories and
sugar intake, some companies are finding a new way to reach out to more
customers – by offering less. Macleans reports. | READ MORE

May 29, 2015, New York – Customers want simplicity in the food they buy, which often translates to fewer of the ingredients they can’t actually picture in their head, reports Fortune magazine. | READ MORE

May 29, 2015, Deerfield, IL – Mondelez
International's latest report details how the company exceeded
many environmental goals and took steps to meet other well-being
targets, including being on target to deliver 25 per cent of revenue from Better Choice
products by 2020. In 2014, which meet stricter nutrition criteria.

June 30, 2015, Toronto – While cold-brew coffee has been around for years it has recently moved from the fringes to the mainstream, with even Starbucks offering it at selected stores in the U.S. and Canada. Metro News reports. | READ MORE

June 22, 2015, Toronto – A new review of 20 years of research, co-authored by Canadian and U.S. researchers, concludes that drinking coffee can significantly curb the seriousness of liver cirrhosis – and even lower the risk of contracting a deadly cancer, The National Post reports. | READ MORE

June 20, 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Brazil's agriculture minister travelled to Miami last week to try to increase the sale of Brazilian coffee to restaurant chains Burger King and Tim Hortons, the ministry said in a statement. Reuters reports. | READ MORE

June 18, 2015, Toronto – Single-serve coffee may be a better choice for the world’s environment than traditional brewed coffee for most coffee drinkers. That’s the surprising finding of new research commissioned by a packaging company on the environmental impacts of coffee throughout all steps of its life cycle.

June 7, 2015, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Scientists writing in the journal ScienceDirect
find rising nighttime temperatures in the coffee growing region of
Tanzania led to a drop in yields for the Arabica bean crop. Yahoo Finance reports. | READ MORE

June 4, 2015, London, England – Loose tea holds the major market share but packaged tea
manufacturers are focusing on increasing their market share by raising
the quality of tea and launching different flavours, says a new report on the worldwide market.

July 6, 2015, Washington – On July 2, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule to prohibit certain uses of chemicals that significantly contribute to climate change in favour of safer, more climate-friendly alternatives.

Fresh Healthy Vending International will be showcasing both its new
Fresh Micro Market concept along with its latest vending machine
innovation at the International Franchise Expo at the Javits Center in New York
City from June 18-20.

April 6, 2015, St. Paul, MN — A micro market is helping police officers
dropping off detainees at the Dakota County Jail in the wee hours get something good, and fresh, to eat, CorrectionsOne.com reports. | READ MORE

March 16, 2015, Cold Lake, Alta. – Cold Lake City Council narrowly passed a policy banning the sale of
energy drinks, such as Red Bull, Monster and NOS, at all
recreation-based facilities operated by the city, the Cold Lake Sun reports. | READ MORE